Exodus 9:31(King James Version)And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

flax

The word {pishteh,} flax, Mr. Parkhurst thinks may be derived from {pashat,} to strip, because the substance which we call flax is properly the filaments of the bark or rind of the vegetable, stripped off the stalks. From time immemorial, Egypt was celebrated for the production and manufacture of flax; and hence the linen and fine linen of Egypt, so often spoken of in scripture and ancient authors.

the barley

The Hebrew {serah,} barley, in Arabic {shair,} and {shairat,} is so called from its rough, bristly beard, with

which the ears are covered and defended; from {sar,} to stand on end as the hair of the head: hence {ser,} the hair of the head. So its Latin name {hordeum} is from {horreo,} to stand on end as the hair Dr. Pococke has observed that there is a double seed time and harvest in Egypt; rice, India wheat, and a grain called the corn of Damascus, are sown and reaped at a very different time from wheat, barley, and flax. The first are sown in March, before the overflowing of the Nile, and reaped about October; whereas the wheat and barley are sown in November and December, as soon as the Nile has gone off, and reaped before May.